Whilst individuals up and down the country are struggling to get a foot onto the property ladder or are battling to keep up with mortgage repayments – it seems that renters have also found themselves in troubled waters.

CCCS have said that renters now account for 55% of their clients, a rise of 4% since 2009. Individuals who are living in rented accommodation are often overlooked when it comes to analysing the impact of the economic downturn, but actually the group has been one of the hardest hit – with consumer advice services reporting record numbers of tenants contacting them for help.

The CCCS report found that during 2011, the average rent paid by the tenants it helped increased by 2.4% whilst the average disposable income of those same tenants (after meeting living expenses), fell by 40%.

Additional findings included a rise of 30% in the number of renters in arrears during the past three years. The breakdown showed that private tenants found themselves in the worst position – with an average of £924 worth of unpaid rent, compared to the average of £705 of unpaid rent owed to housing associations and £622 for local authority renters.

Director of external affairs at CCCS, Delroy Corinaldi said: “A very large number of people are struggling to keep up with their rent payments – and with rents near record highs, the problem is getting worse, not better. Household finances are being squeezed as it is – and for many people another rent hike will be the straw that breaks the camel’s back.”

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